Liberato
by SilverCrystal029
Summary: Charles wipes Rogue's mind after a trauma under order, dividing everyone. When the same mistake leaves another vulnerable, they start to wonder if Charles is the man they thought he was. Meanwhile, Rogue feels a presence following her, a strange absence in her mind, and a general calm she's never had. But, it's all only the calm before the storm... Will the X-Men Survive?
1. Prologue

_The X-Men watched as Rogue stepped onto water like it was concrete. Electricity and fire swirled in her hands. With all her powers unleashed and running the show, it seemed she could do anything. Her hunter green catsuit was covered in rips and tears, but shielded skin that could no longer be cut. Her eyes were mad with power as thunder cracked above them. The former Weapon X project moved to enter the water, but Jean stopped him._

_'No, Logan. Look.' Live, electric wires had fallen into the water and made it conductive. This meant extra-certain death, to his adamantium plated skeleton. Ororo's hands jittered as she looked at the dangerous puddles surrounding them, half the manhattan bridge pulled to the ground. _

_"Rogue," Scott called out, right where he left off. The team edged behind him, like they were cornering a wild animal. Their friend was not herself, and they'd never seen this side of her. Not even when she wiped the floor with them the first time her powers spun out. This was different. Kurt stood beside him, two fingers digging into his black X-Suit. The wind was raging around them. "Your friends are here, it's going to be okay."  
_

_'Friends...' A lot of faces flash in her mind, but they all serve to make Her angry. 'Help me...'_

_"She no longer has friends." Rogue answers in a voice that isn't her own. She raised a fist, one that now contains the power of the galaxy. One that can defeat them all, easily. __It glowed fiercely as she sneered at them, eyes cold and blue.__ Jean rockets forward and is determined to stop her. 'I must-' Rogue hits the ocean with such force, the sea floor is visible. Jean is repelled by the blast, barely falling into Scott's arms. Ororo screams into action, using her mastery of the elements to keep them from being crushed by sea water._

_Jean shields everyone from the rest, her hands raising a telekinetic shield that glows bright pink, showing how her powers have grown. "Rogue! Focus!" Kurt called out through the spraying winds. "It's okay, ve're here!" He could barely hear himself over his sister's screams, the sound making tears spring to his eyes. _

_"She's never coming back!" Another's voice screams at them all. "She's never-" _

Charles' eyes open abruptly. He wasn't praying on the jet, portable Cerebro on his hands. His student wasn't tearing the city down. The military was no longer surrounding him. He was in the medbay. "Are you _listening_ to me?" A man with an eyepatch and another man known as Iron Man both stared impatiently at him. It'd been a horrid day for everyone. A day where everybody seemed to lose something. Some property, some colleagues. Emotions are pulled tight and everyone's a second away from making a rash decision.

People are pounding on the doors to the infirmary, begging the psychic to listen.

"Will you meet _any and all_ of our demands?" Fury says, his eye somber.

"In exchange for_ her_ freedom." The bags under the inventor's eyes are mile along, only rivaled by Charles'. He watched the strongest woman he knew be taken, and by one of _them._ There was no limit to their power, they were now all aware.

_'Professor, let us in there. We'll protect you, both of us!'_ Jean begs from the hallway.

"Chuck-"

"Yes. I will." Nick Fury and Tony Stark exchanged looks. This was far from enough, but it'd be a start. Fury nodded, and Tony reluctantly raised an arm.

"Yeah. Avengers teams, _stand down._" He looked into Charles' eyes, the look weary and distrusting. "We have cooperation."


	2. Wind Rider

_"Shetani, mungu mwovu. Mtumwa wangu. Bi harusi yangu. Wind Rider."_ _It's so dark, and a younger Ororo is grateful there are no walls. __No walls closing in on her, forcing her to panic to wrap around her like a snake.__ Her white hair clings to her face as her feet beat the dirt. The more scared she got, the harder it became to control her powers. It wouldn't take much for them to look at her as a monstrosity. The enemy. Someone with far too much power. And, if she creates a storm that's what they'll think. Even when it isn't her... They deserve it. She is the weather. Mother Nature. Asili Ya Dunia. What she says is law._

_'Wote msifuni, malkia wangu mwovu.'_

_The words are an incantation. The african girl feels them pulse through her as she runs, barefoot. 'What's happening.'_

_"Awaken." _

"'Ro? Everything alright?" She looked down to the shattered mug and spilled tea, everywhere. Jean had shattered nine light bulbs and Kitty had broken some electronics over the course of the day. Everybody's nerves were bad after the last few hours. Charles is still talking to the S.H.I.E.L.D agents, nobody's laid eyes on Rogue for hours. All anyone can do is wait. Logan's fussed at young students to sleep, only to sit awake in the kitchen, himself. "You're pale." He worries at her, wearing the same dark shirt he must own twenty of.

She's draped in his flannel, holding her elbows. "I'm sorry,_ I-"_ He bends down wordlessly and cleans up the mess. Then, he pulled out a chair and silently started fixing another cup for her. She could hear the cup rattle in his hand. "I must've zoned out."

"I saw." He answers, trying to watch water boil. He leaned his hands on the counter and sighed. "Worried too." He admits, staring out into the pitch black garden. 'Worried' is an understatement.

"I should be down there, with Charles..." She starts to stand but he ushers her down. He'd been having much the same thoughts.

"Y'know Chuck knows how to handle himself." That he did, but still. He was also very familiar with S.H.I.E.L.D, and they were not to be underestimated. A fleeting moment passes where Ororo thinks of bringing up her thoughts. Maybe, catching the professor once Nick Fury released him to let her know memories were resurfacing. Memories she was not supposed to have.

Logan frowns at her, and the moment passes. They needed to worry for Rogue, for the government occupying their halls or lawns. The coming fights would need her. She didn't need to busy Charles' with any more worries. At least, that's what she felt like. The hairy man quirked an eyebrow. "You _sure_ you alright?" She nodded, massaging an eye.

"Yes, Logan. Just tired." Tired was going around. He studied her olive colored nightgown when he heard commotion below. Hushed voices. Footsteps. He growled involuntarily as the bodies moved, headed towards the front door_. 'About time.'_ He thinks, dying to know what exactly they grilled Chuck for hours on. He makes the cup of tea with honey and lemon, and sets it insistently in front of the woman.

"Drink."

"Yes," She stares at the steaming cup. Her mind is clearly elsewhere.

_"Then_, rest." She nodded distantly.

"You, as well. I'm not the only one who looks tired."

His footfall took him towards the basement where the infirmary was located. He caught Charles still sitting there, his head buried in his hands. "C-Chuck..." He looks up in obvious surprise, his eyes wide.

"Logan-"

"Those dirty agents treat you right? Everything okay?" He's sniffing absentmindedly, trying to detect what he might want to hide.

_"Will you meet any and all of our demands?"_

_"In exchange for her freedom."_

His mouth tugs downwards at the following silence. "_Charles?"_

"Everything... Everything is alright. Do you think you and Ororo could help get everyone up? We've... All got some things to discuss." He raised an eyebrow and tried not to think of the ungodly hour. Whatever he had to say, it sounded important.

"Uh, alright. We'll do that. Try to relax,_ will ya?_" Charles' attempt at a smile failed, as he sat tensely and waited for younger, sleepier faces to appear. They slowly did, many unable to sleep with government bodies present in the school, anyways. Or were true insomniacs, like Scott. Soon, Charles found himself staring at the team he'd made. The girl in the infirmary's team.

Jean anchored herself at Scott's side and an arm wrapped in his as everyone looked to the telepath. "How is she, professor?" He's asking the question on everyone's mind, the one making him and Hank uncomfortable. She's had issues with her powers, before. But, this had been a whole other affair. A destructive and heartbreaking one. But, above all else, terrifying.

_Rogue tugged at a pleated skirt of green plaid, eyeing her old roommate in annoyance. She didn't usually give in to the girl's pleas for mall trips, but she'd begged and begged. Here they were, she with a bag full of makeup and her with a bag from the music store. As far as mall trips go, this wasn't the worst. But, Rogue was getting ready to go back home. _

_She marveled at her ice cream cone, looking at the crowds around them. "You ready, now? We have to have gone to every store..." _

_"Yeah, sure. Oh!," The smaller girl pushed Rogue closer to the commotion. "What's that, over there?" Rogue squirmed and tried to avoid all the closely packed people. It brought up bad memories. Two years post Apocalypse and that harrowing year is still on the silver haired girl's mind. She tucked slightly growing locks behind her ear as Kitty tugged. _

_"Whoa, whoa. Kit, wait. Ah don't know, some meet an Avenger, thing? Sounds lame, can we-" Before she knew it, the girls had pushed to front of the display. A blonde woman in her mid twenties stood, waving while someone talked on a microphone. Rogue had never seen her before, but she seemed so familiar. A weird sensation began to pulse in her head. _

_Kitty gasps when her ice cream spills on the floor. 'Mashambulio.' She can hear the words beating in her head, but she had no idea what they mean. Why she's hearing them. Who's speaking. _

_'W-What?'_

_"And, so when I realized my DNA was... Different, I enlisted with the Special Forces to use my power to protect innocent people. This eventually led to the formation of the team you now know as the Avengers." The mention of the team made Rogue's head blister in pain, cradling it as she shook silver and auburn hair. 'NO,' "Alright, so. Any questions?" _

_Kitty stepped forward while Rogue suffered, silently. "I have one!" The blonde smiled. "Do you rue the day you crossed Mystique?" People began to murmur and whisper as the Kitty sneered. _

_"What?" Rogue jumped forward, her gloves already removed. _

_'NOW!'_

"As we all saw, earlier... I had a lot to discuss with the S.H.I.E.L.D agents." Scott's nose wrinkles.

"S-She's not in any trouble, is she?" Kurt asks innocently, his accent sharp. He's still rubbing sleep out of his eyes. "They know it vasn't her fault, _right?_" His face hardens as he thinks of his mother. She was directly to blame for the chaos and damage caused. Things they'll be working to undo for a long time.

"After thorough vetting, they seem to accept that as the truth. There were _other_ matters to discuss... The powers she now possessed, what they can do without capable hands. The knowledge she contains about classified information." He shut his eyes, solemnly. This is somehow harder than he imagined. "Rogue has _never_ had a contact like this. She absorbed... _All_ that it means to be and exist into her mind.. _Carol's_ being. Her whole psyche." Jean gasps, immediately understanding the weight of these words.

"They were concerned with stripe havin' S.H.I.E.L.D and Avenger memories, weren't they? If I know one thing, i_t's Fury."_ Charles nodded slowly, his head leaning on his hands.

"Precisely." Scott snorted, the nerve of these people.

"Tell them not to worry, they're probably safer here." He folded his arms over a broad chest in a plain shirt. Charles said nothing, his eyes boring through all of them. "What... _Did_ you tell them?" Jean quickly communicated with Scott, then turned to the bald man.

"Professor?" She added.

"Charles," Ororo moved forward.

"If I left Rogue's mind _unaltered._.." Logan starts to growl. "Not only would her health be at risk, but _S.H.I.E.L.D-"_

"What _about_ S.H.I.E.L.D?" Logan interrupts, panicking. Were they coming back for her?

"The Avengers-"

_"Avengers?"_ Scott stands, already over trying to work with the government sanctioned super heroes. He couldn't stand them and he didn't trust a single one of them.

"They would_ not_ let her keep the knowledge and remain free. She cannot have access to the memories and the abilities, tha-"

"There were conditions to her freedom?" Kitty's voice squeaks in surprise.

"Oh my god," Bobby begins, his hands covering his face. "They're gonna blow up the institute, again. Aren't they?" Charles holds up a hand before the room can erupt in panicked cries.

"The Avengers have lost a teammate." This captured silence. "Unless we want to be in a conflict that could last a very long time, I made the decision to appease them." Logan shook his head in disgust. Charles wouldn't, the man he knew didn't trade lives or bow for anyone. "And, to protect our friend. From being hunted. _Pursued_, until they got their pound of flesh."

"You blocked the memories of all of it? After all the _mind-fucking_ we just started undoing from Mystique? Charles, how _could_ you?" He would've had a swift answer for these 'demands'. They were located in his knuckles. "This happened, we're here. You can't just_ make it_ like-"

"How do you propose we keep something like this from happening,_ again_?" Scott bellows over raising voices, Jean trying to quiet him. "She _has_ to know-"

"I have trusted _my_ memories to be blocked by Charles. He would do nothing to any of us that_ wasn_'t in our best interest." Ororo stands beside the psychic, her face firm. Logan shakes his head.

"You had memories erased? '_Ro?_" He hasn't forgotten the shaman who came after her, nearly pushed her mind past it's breaking point. But, that's not what the woman was referring to.

"I don't presume to know what is in_ your_ mind, don't presume to know what's in mine._ Or_ his." Jean places a hand on Scott's chest when he opens his mouth, again. "He clearly agonized and discussed this, for a _very_ long time. Nobody takes being responsible for your care and well being more seriously than him. So please, don't attack him because we are angry and confused." Those watching murmured amongst themselves. Logan and Ororo didn't fight, often. But, when they did... Kitty leaned her head in her hands.

"He yanked memories _outta_ her head!" Logan snarls, in awe of what he's hearing. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the woman he thought he knew. "You let him do the same, and for_ what_? A good night's sleep? People like us _need_ the truth. We can't afford to forget!" He presses closer to Ororo's face, but she doesn't move an inch.

_"Logan,"_ Charles chastises as she crackles with electricity. Scott stands and wedges a shoulder between them.

"I understand you have things_ you_ want to remember. Some of us have things we _need_ to forget. Isn't there enough _pain_ locked in the girl's mind, you saw her!" Logan's doubled back, facing the wall with her hands twisted in claws. Rogue had not been herself when she was last awake. It'd been hard to witness for all of them, and the thought makes him want to leap from the window. "Let her have some pea-"

"She'd want the _truth,_ even if it hurts._ I_ know her." He turned back, black eyes glimmering with emotion. Ororo is glaring back, not standing to have her love and dedication to her students questioned.

"Unfortunately, it is not _up_ to us. Unless you want us to fight, I don't see another way." Charles massaged his forehead, a hand held up, feebly.

"But,_ professo-" _Based on what he's heard, Scott is convinced there's a better way. The X-Men didn't lie to each other. At least, that's what he thought.

"There will be no mentioning of the incident, the Avengers, or her powers. That rule is a stipulation of staying here. They are bound. I used Cerebro to help shield her from any memories other than before her mall trip. Kitty," The girl frowns in disapproval when she's called. She wants no part in this, feeling horrible enough Mystique impersonated _her_. "You were attacked at the Bayville mall. She sustained a head injury and blanked out. That is what you are to discuss with Rogue, is that understood?"

Nobody is really sure what to say. Logan storms out of the room and Ororo follows.

"Y-Yes, professor. We..." Jean looked around at shocked, stunned, and angry faces. Scott was stewing beside her, shooting a word a second to her, telepathically. "We understand..." Without another word, the telepath rolled himself to the nearest elevator.

"Oh, man..." Is all Kurt says, trying to forget Charles' weary face. Kitty compulsively wraps an arm around him.

"So. I guess I should return my 'sorry you put an Avenger in a coma on national television'" cake?" Scott's hand is quick to make it upside his head, catching Jean's telepathic reprimanding. "What? We laugh so we don't _cry_... I'd think she'd appreciate a joke in the atmosphere." He rubbed his head with a pout. Jean followed as he stomped back to their room.

"It is late," Hank says with a heavy sigh. "Let's try all the hard stuff, tomorrow." He tries with a smile. Kitty and Kurt reluctantly turn and wade into the hallway. How was this going to go?

* * *

_"Let me go..." Shadows are everywhere, obscuring the face of the woman speaking. But, Rogue can see her angry eyes. 'Why... Why is she screaming at me...'_

"Rogue? Can you hear us?" She recognized the voice. Not one of her favorites, but one she's glad to hear after swimming in a murky headspace. "She's waking up!"

_'Jean.'_ She blinked, the blinding but familiar fluorescent lights sting her eyes. A gloved hand flies up in reflex, and several people let out exhales. She runs a hand through sweat soaked hair and is mortified to feel the curl pattern. She could guarantee she looked like shit, but judging by the amount of people in the infirmary, that wasn't important.

Logan was lingering in the corner, and Hank and the professor were right by her side. Jean was sitting on the edge of her bed, one knee propped up. She blinked again and her vision steadied. "What's... With all th_e people_ in here?" Logan smirks at that, and is at least glad that whatever Charles has done, she sounded like herself.

She rubs her temple out of reflex, and Charles frowns. "Hello, Rogue. _Please_... Tell us how you feel." She felt strangely embarrassed and like she wasn't in on the secret as everyone looked at her. Rather expectantly. Her head was sore, and if she had to guess she took a hard smack in the Danger Room. Her mind was feeling tired, as well. But, not 'power-melt-down- tired.

She sniffed and smiled uneasily. "Well, my big ol' head hurts. But, Ah feel _okay_. Anyone remember what happened? Ah don't..." Jean's perfect smile doesn't falter, but she feels Logan tense across the room.

"There was an_ accident._ Mutant haters attacked you and Kitty at the mall." She winces when the pale girl's face falls.

"Kitty, is sh-"

_"Fine."_ Logan growls harsher than he meant to. His stare is glued to the floor.

"Thanks to you." Hank adds, lamely. Everyone seems a little uncomfortable, like she has food in her teeth.

"You sustained a serious concussion, Rogue. You will need some rest and may never fully recover the memories." She nodded slowly as Charles spoke. Concussions and other injuries were the name of being an X-Man.

"You're gonna need to take it easy for a while." She nods slowly, rubbing the top of her head.

"Yeah, that's gonna be _fine_ with me." Jean stands abruptly.

"Why don't we give you a little quiet? Kitty and Kurt have been dying to see you." She feels better when the girl's face lights up. Her smile is genuine, and no more of that nagging feeling that something was weird. She hoped her and the professor's work was enough to protect her. The fall out could potentially be catastrophic. '_If she has access to those powers while having a psychotic break...'_ She didn't even want to ponder it.

"Yeah, sure. Bet they been _bored_ with no one to annoy." Her smile is warm, though. Surprised every time she wakes up in the infirmary, people are always there. She was too tired not to ignore the strange undercurrent she was feeling from everybody. _'My brain just must be a little scrambled, thats all.'_ It was a pretty regular occurrence for her.

She waves when Kitty and her brother appear, the older mutants filing out to the observatory. "I'm telling you all now, this is a_ mistake_." Logan says, his eyes focused on the three. This was going to tear everything the man built, apart.

"Perhaps." Charles admits through clenched teeth. "But, I fail to see even another mistake I could've made, instead." Logan shuts his eyes in protest. Lying to her, everyone in on it around her, it would break the fragile girl. It was wrong. Voyeuristic. It would kill her. "They are listening. _Watching_. They will come for her if they have reason to believe she's retained any of Carol's psyche or demonstrates those powers."

"I can tell you've glowed a little of the unrest surrounding her mental signature, maybe she'll adjust really well to this." Jean suggests, fighting to be positive. "I think things we'll be fine. They have to be." Logan laughs at that before going to seek a beer. Jean patted Charles' back before going upstairs to find Scott. Hank turns to him when he sighs.

"Do_ you_ think I made the right choice?" Hank placed a large, blue hand on his shoulder.

"I think you made the choice you had to."


	3. Déjà Vu

Charles can erase the memories. He can lock the aggressive psyche away. But, he cannot take away the pervasive sense of dread blooming inside Rogue's chest and spreading. Like a cancer. One she doesn't have the strength or the heart to confront. She can feel how big, just how deep this particular rabbit hole is. And, just like she might've finally found out, maybe she doesn't really _want_ to know.

She'd always wondered how she acquired a friend, one as engaged and cool and_ interested_ as Risty. Kitty, Kurt, Jean... They were the socialites. The easily approachable. The popular. The wanted. Never her. Until Risty. She showed up like they were meant to be friends. She should've known the moment she saw her. She spent her childhood beside the woman. Being trained by her. Unwittingly primed.

And, she still had no clue. Maybe, the embarrassment fueled her rage. That all consuming rage that almost made Kurt turn his back on her. She was so smart, in some of Scott and Jean's senior classes, but she didn't know. That had killed her quest for knowledge, at least when it came to herself. There were more answers that could surely break her, this time. She had finally found her resignation.

Whatever the entirety of the school, her own sibling, her closest teammate feel pertinent to hide; she would just agree.

"Ah'm... Worried about Ororo." Deflect, she's always been good at it. And, at their school, there was always plenty to worry about. Remy studied the black jacket pulled over her green X-Suit. She was always suited up, ready to fly into action for reasons unknown to her. He comes and goes pretty frequently to the school since he's welcome. The events of the past few days drove him there, quickly.

He leans against the gazebo in a loose fitting, dark shirt and feigns comfort. He'd rather chew his arm off than lie to her, again, but he doesn't seem to have a choice. "You fresh out de infirmary worryin' about someone _else,_" He muses, secretly glad she's on her feet. He can't help but poke at her, it feels natural. And, she needs natural, right now. He smiles when she pouts.

"You came _runnin_' just because Ah got bump on my head? Seem kinda worried about someone else..." She sees a deep emotion flash past his eyes through halos of silver hair. He recovers well. His livelihood requires him to stay cool.

_It was much more than a bump. It was soldiers and military personnel in the hospital, in comas. S.H.I.E.L.D's strongest Avenger: in a coma. Over five hundred thousand dollars in property damage, half of the Bayville Bridge torn down. Dozens of roads needing reconstruction and pavement. Buildings closed, indefinitely. All created by the conflict caused by one person. _

_Mystique. _

_Even Scott is still when he sees the chaos. The damage caused by his friend and teammate. One that his mind can't seem to wrap around. Flipped cars and shattered buildings were not something she would do if she could help herself, so he has to imagine she's not in control. When Logan takes off running from behind him, they slowly realize the damage is from the conflict. Not her following rampage. Both suspected mutants were on the ground. Motionless. _

_"Oh my god," Jean barely whispers. Carol Danvers wasn't a mutant. One attempt at finding her mind told her that. And, something went very wrong. "That woman's not a mutant. Something... Something happened when they touched."_

He tries to push memories from his mind. "Jus' passin' by." He says, following her stare across the garden to the weather mutant. She has also seemed distant, personally affected by something. Charles and S.H.I.E.L.D's combined efforts could not identify what drove Rogue to attack Ms. Marvel. And, Mystique was nowhere to be found. This made everyone uneasy, especially since Rogue had no idea about any of it. The southerner thought it best to stick around. "Worried about Stormie,_ huh_?" He shuffled cards nervously between fingers.

"Yeah.. She, hasn't seemed herself. Ah can tell Logan is worried, too. But, he's been kinda _weird._ Ah dunno," She looked up pensively to the cajun's face. "Maybe,_ Ah'm_ the one who's weird." He shook his head with a light laugh and moved a little closer. She didn't seem to object.

"Non,_ chére._ Everyt'in weird right now. You not crazy." He wrapped an arm arm around her and tossed another disconcerted stare at Ororo. "C'mon, make ya some black coffee." Her eyes brightened at that, and he gently led her towards the kitchen doors. Logan watched from afar, a growl deep and steady in his throat. Rogue couldn't really handle the commotion of his fussing, right now. Besides, Ororo appeared to need him.

Something was getting to her, and she didn't used to keep secrets before. "_Sure_ everything's fine?" He presses for the third time, studying the black drapey dress she was in. The uneasiness around the school was driving him insane.

"Yes, Logan. I am fine." She didn't seem to believe her own words, anymore.

"You watered these plants, _two times_ already." He pointed out, concern shining in his eyes. Between her and Rogue, he felt he would worry himself into a heart attack. "Just tell me what's goin' on. You_ know_, I'll help." She rubbed tired eyes.

"I just... Need rest. I've been stressing myself..." He hasn't forgotten the last time she was 'just tired'. None of them had. He ushers her towards the school, and hopefully to her bed.

"Nothin' wrong with rest, 'Ro." He says, eyeing her tiredly.

Scott and Jean stood on the roof, watching the lawn, somberly.

"I think it's just her nerves, Scott. My powers have grown. I would detect that disturbance, now." Nobody would be jedi mind tricking a student without her knowing. At least, that's what he wanted to believe.

"I know." Is all he says, clearly thinking. Somehow, he didn't think this was that easy.

* * *

Logan emerged to the kitchen later to find a few people picking at their dinners.

"How's Ororo?" Kitty's the first to venture, head leaned on her hand as she twirls the fork. It hit her particularly hard when Hungan tried to take the woman out of her mind. She was often the voice of reason in those crazy times. Calming, easing her deepest anxieties. It always shook everyone to their core to see her like this.

"Hank got her a mild sedative and some tea, she's sleepin'." He mostly mumbles, hands jammed in his pockets. It's clear form the lines etched on his face that he doesn't feel good about it. "She's... Just been working herself up. Dense atmosphere." Jean nodded, looking down at her parfait and contemplate the past few days. Heavy, to say the least.

"Right." Logan's dark eyes roved the kitchen, frowning when he didn't see Rogue. She needed to nurture her body after what it's been through. Her appetite had been bad enough before all this.

"Stripe eat? Where is she?" He fumbles with thick fingers for a cigarette.

"_We_ went to dinner," Remy answers, grabbing an apple of the table with a grin. "She in de shower, now." Jean and Kitty stifle laughter at the red look on Logan's face. Scott fixes his mouth to open, but Jean's interference in his head stops him. Logan was secretly glad she'd gotten out the house, even if it had been for him. He'd been expecting to see her isolate.

"Not gonna ask why you know that." He took a swig of some coffee with a little extra in it. Remy held his hands up with a chuckle, anchoring behind Kitty as she eyed him. She didn't understand all of it, but she loved the effect the two southerners had on each other.

"No disrespect." He tossed a curious look upstairs. "Matter o'fact, she should be done b-" A rocking explosion and a moist sounding noise alerted them all to the upstairs bathroom. "Merde-"

"Oh my _god_," Jean lifts off the ground quickly while Kitty's running through walls.

"Go, just go." Logan commands as Kurt grabs Scott and Jean. Remy's already running and halfway up the stairs, praying that he shouldn't have made sure she didn't run into trouble.

"S-She was so lucid. And, sharp. _A-And_..." Logan begins to growl, practically ripping the door off the hinges as Kurt, Kitty, Jean and Scott all arrive.

"Rogue?!" She's luckily decent, covered by a black towel and staring at her reflection in the mirror. The tub is shattered porcelain, littering the floor as well as a few inches of water. The episode is very reminiscent of Ororo's, years ago when Evan was still with them. Everyone silently wonders how such a small girl is capable of that. No matter what she remembered, she still housed incredible power.

Logan and Remy ease in, watching her closely for movements. There's no telling how strong she is.

_"Chére..."_ Remy reaches a hand out, noting that his famously steady hands are shaking.

"Stripe? You okay?" She seemed caught in a trance, between her memories. Her eyes are glossed over, searching for something they can't see. _'I knew this would ruin her mind!'_

"The professor is getting to Cerebro, Kurt's on the way!" Jean reported with a trembling voice. Rogue still hadn't moved. "Rogue, can you hear us?"

"_Rogue?"_ Logan tried, his palm going numb as he clutched a fist.

_"Do you ever wonder when you became the very thing you're afraid of?_" She looked at him with grey eyes, full of fear. _"Do you?"_

"Rogue, it's-" She collapsed suddenly into Remy's arms, leaving him standing there speechless_. 'Some part of her knows...'_

_'Have Remy bring her down to the infirmary, please._' Charles says, sounding breathless in his head. A piercing scream is heard on the other side of the school before anyone can exhale.

"That... That sounds like Ororo?" Kitty says, her lip trembling. This is the worst time for the school to be under attack.

"Go." Remy demands, adjusting Rogue in his arms as he checks on her. "I got her, get to _Storm!_" Logan and Scott are tearing down the stairs next, feeling school shake from underneath them. It seemed like more than bad timing.

"Damn it,_ her power_s!" Logan pushes himself to go even faster, surprised the floor isn't splintering while Charles shouts in his head. Thunder shakes the walls as they stumble, desperate to reach her before she hurts herself. She's had nasty stays in the infirmary from nightmares and bouts with claustrophobia. He flings her door open and wastes no time getting to her side.

She's already in the air, multiple items levitating in the wind. "BEGONE FROM ME, AWAY!" Scott shields his face as Logan forces closer.

"'Ro, stop it! You're_ dreamin'_! It's okay!" When a dresser lifted out of his way he leapt for her and tackled her to the bed. The winds and thunder ceased, the furniture crashed to the ground. "It's okay! You're _okay,_ now." He peered at her with dark eyes as Kurt and Jean appeared in the doorway, as well. "Everything's... Everything's fine, now." He tried to untangle her hair from her face as she panted.

_'Might Ororo come and speak with me once I've got Rogue situated?'_ Logan gently pulled the silver haired woman to her feet while Scott watched. He didn't like this. Not any of it.

_'The professor is hiding something. I don't like this-'_

_'Me either, Scott. Trust the professor t-'_

_'Like, Rogue trusted him? Hiding important trauma from her to appease the government. The one that imprisoned her?'_

_'He's doing the best he can.'_ He doesn't have a response for that, biting his tongue as Logan walked Ororo downstairs. They arrived to see Gambit standing in the lobby. His troubled stare was on Rogue's sleeping face. Charles was still lingering close by. They'd clearly just spoken, Logan could tell by the tenseness and rigidness of the cajun's stance.

He was biting his tongue, as well. "Chuck." Logan says, his stare lingering on the psychic.

"Ororo. Everything alright?" Wrinkles knit into Charles' brow as she sat shakily in front of him.

"I'm fine... My dreams-"

"You are dreaming about them. The memories I repressed." Now, it was Logan's turn to tense as Ororo nodded, wearily. She was too tired of bearing the weight of them. She had way less claustrophobia baggage without them, and frankly she didn't need more ammo for psychics and other mutants to exploit against her. Mystique knew her secrets and fears.

She knew why Logan didn't quite understand. But, where she came from, Amahl Farouk was the devil. And, he grew power from his knowledge. She had him scrubbed from her mind with great pleasure. "Yes. Perhaps I was." The bald man looks at Logan. He swallowed a growl and showed himself out. He didn't trust Charles having control of people's minds and the narrative in them. That was too much trust, and he trusted the man as much as he could.

_'Can't do it without backfiring..._' He sees it clearly, tearing them apart and into the arms of enemies and other interests. It all starts by breaking trust. The stress was so high it was driving Ororo's memories forward.

Charles took in her exhausted appearance with a frown. "How long has this been going on, Storm?"

"Not long, I think it's been the stress of lately..." Charles raises his hands and waits for permission before entering her mind. The memories did seem stoked, and he took care to tuck them carefully away. Much like he did for Rogue and Carol's psyche.

"Be sure to get lots of rest so you don't get a migraine." He warns, hoping he's making the right choice. He just isn't sure what her suffering would tell them. "Take it easy. Our_ minds_ need repair, as well." She nods, trying to shake the nasty feeling of the memories springing to her mind. She manages a lame smile as she rises, embarrassed about her freakout.

"How is she?" Immediately, he drops his head to his hands.

"Hopefully, that won't be a common thing. She... Has _so much_ power, Storm... You couldn't know."

_"Your friends are here, it's going to be okay."  
_

_'Friends...' A lot of faces flash in her mind, but they all serve to make Her angry._

_"She no longer has friends." Rogue answers in a voice that isn't her own. She raised a fist, one that now contains the power of the galaxy. One that can defeat them all, easily. __It glowed fiercely as she sneered at them, eyes cold and blue.__ Jean rockets forward and is determined to stop her. 'I must-' Rogue hits the ocean with such force, the sea floor is visible. Ororo screams into action, using her mastery of the elements to keep them from being crushed by sea water._

"I _know_ how powerful she is." She looks down at Charles and folds her arms. "She can't be unaware of it. That is-"

"We have no choice, Ororo." She watched as he moved around her to leave. "Please, get some rest." He watches wearily as she disappears up the stairs. He had no idea how he'd gotten to this place. He could only pray that the vulnerable school was safe. Despite what he tried to tell himself, he had a growing suspicion it wasn't going to be. Not for long. And, not really idea how to go forward.

_'Please. Tell me how things are going.' _

_'Bad. The Avengers just landed, and are figuring out the same thing we are." The broad chested mutant struggles out of a tight, black glove while he watches Rogue's face. Slack. Devoid of life. 'C'mon kid. Hang on, we're here, now. Don't quit on us, now.' Tears spring to the telepath's eyes when he accidentally overhears Logan's panicked, inner monologue._

_'Logan, if you touch her now... She will have no restraint. No inkling of who she is, backed by your innate feral nature, her powers, and Carol's rage. She will be more da-' _

_'Not up for debate.' The solemn report left Charles silent. He figured as much once he realizes what Mystique has done and why, how she's always looked at her daughter's powers. Reacted to Destiny's visions. He should've seen it sooner, known how much more he needed to protect her. Given Logan's healing factor, she might become unstoppable. 'I can heal her.' _

_Charles says nothing out as he reaches down and experiences Rogue's mutation for the first time. He expected great pain, but the sensation he felt was akin to a slight suction. She was too taxed after whatever happened with the Avenger. 'No!'_

_"Wolverine!" He looks up when he hears Scott's panicked cry, a hand still on her face. The Norse looking Avenger was eating his optic blast to the chest. Kitty was hanging on to the green monstrosity and struggling to make him intangible. A massive weapon flies through the air as Jean narrowly deflects it. Ororo sails to the sky, summoning clouds and rain as lightning strikes the ground. They would attack him in a moment. _

_"C'mon, Rogue." He bit his own tongue when a shock surged through his body. Her absorption continued at full force, and he felt his memories be drained into her. That would be a battle for another day. What he's been able to check of the Avenger is not good, and he knows how her team's about to react. Her vitals were stable, but she was exhibiting signs of low brain activity. _

_If it was Rogue's touch that did this, he could only guess what that meant. Veins spread through her skin as grey eyes fluttered open. "Rogue?" His throat is tight, knowing it's foolish to expect the girl to wake up herself after what she's been through. Claw of bone nearly pierce his face as he staggers back. Rogue's screeching, screaming as she tries to contain all the conflicting shouts in her head. _

_"C-Carol Susan... J-Jane Danvers..." She repeats, banging on her head when that's all she can hear, being shouted repeatedly. 'Hear me! LISTEN TO ME!' "Why is that the only thing in mah head?! Oh, GOD-" Logan watched in terror as the ground began to shake. Winds cut at his skin as the mutant began to ripple with power. "Who am I? What's going on!" Tears streaming down her face, she raises a hand that repels Logan feet away. _

_Memories of being abandoned, as a child in a children's ward snap to mind next. There was a malevolent force in her mind purposefully bringing up rotten memories, ones she couldn't control. "No... Don't leave me, don't strap me DOWN!" The red headed psychic pivots, even as she's fighting two Avengers to keep Logan from being crushed. Wanda's red hex energy slowly began to cover everything. _

_"Wolverine!" She cries, covering him with a shield as the building drops. She twists a hand and a helicopter careens in the air. Kurt and Kitty find their way to each other, teleporting inside the cabin and rescuing the two pilots within. The vehicle causes a massive explosion a few yards away. _

_"This... Is wrong." The voice coming out of Rogue makes Iron Man pause in mid air, his eyes wide behind his mask. 'Carol?' Rogue looked around, at her own seemingly dead body on the ground. "She's killed me... Took everything from me! And now, I'm stuck here!" Concrete began to blister and erupt with power near her feet. _

_"We're gonna get this fixed." Another red headed woman says, bending down near the blonde's body. Her demeanor is cool, but the frigid spy's friends can see the concern hidden on her face. Logan's scrambling up from rubble, watching helplessly as Rogue takes to the sky. _

"Professor?"


	4. Frost

"Professor?" The tired man looked up in surprise, a long floral robe covering Jean's nightgown. He's thankful for that. She was trying to smile but it was obvious she was worried about him. She had far more empathetic powers than him, she was feeling all of the dense emotions bounce around the school. It had to be giving her a headache or keeping her up at night. He rubs a temple as she comes into his office. "I think I felt you and Ororo talking..." He nods, sympathetically. It was a wonder she slept, at all.

"I'm _alrigh_t Jean, get on to be-"

"None of this is your fault. You know that,_ right?"_ He can't remember a time the telepath hasn't had his back, but he's not so sure he deserves it. She's worried about the strain he must be under. "Mystique _used_ Destiny to make her plan impeccable. And, I think Ororo is just internalizing the stress. We weren't really a match for the Avengers." Her green eyes harden. "They only retreated because Rogue was so powerful. She's probably worried about them coming..."

Charles placed a hand on her back. "It is okay, Jean. I've called in a friend to counsel with Ororo and help her be at peace with what has happened. And," Charles' forehead wrinkled. "We will protect our friend if we have to, don't worry about that." He gave her a watery smile, one he knows she sees through. "Please, try to get some slee-"

"Hard around here." Jean says sheepishly, tucking her hair behind her ear. She seemed to pick up every little whisper, now. "But, I'll try. You too, please. I'm worried about you." He waves a hand but he knows she senses his strain. His anxiousness. His lack of sleep.

"I am fine, Jean. Running this institute had called for many a sleepless night."

_"Will you meet any and all of our demands?" _He shook the words out of his mind.

_"_Okay, well... If there's anything I can do-"

"You do enough, dear. Get a good night's rest." She disappeared into a room he knew Scott was for her in, and he retired to his own bedroom. To lay, awake.

* * *

Logan studied Kitty's short hair and Kurt's nervous expression. _"And?_ You have every emergency contact number? Know where to meet, incase things go _left?_"

"Yes, Mr. Logan. _Cellphones_, remember?" He grunted, folding his arms before settling on an armchair. He can't blame them for wanting to get Rogue out of the house. She's been... Different since the accident. Since Charles routed around in her mind. Calm, but not so much herself. And, the more she sat idle and sheltered in the school, the more she would realize something was wrong.

"What do you guys wanna do? I don't think the mall or that area... Is a good idea to take her. Charles is still worried about unintentional triggers..." Both younger students watched him, attentive. Knowing they will need his seal of approval to leave the mansion. The college students have grown a lot since high school, since they were a newly formed team trying to find their way. But, they'll all always be _his_ kids. His responsibility.

Kitty's at attention in a turquoise button up and shrouded in Piotr's jacket. Kurt's hands are behind his back, his blue shirt in need of a little more ironing. The two mutants are not deceptive, and always have Rogue's best interest at heart. He's not really worried about them, he's worried about everyone else. And, how nobody blinked an when the girls left, together.

_"That's your quickest mall trip, half-pint." Logan can't help but call to her as she comes into the kitchen with a smoothie. He didn't remember her wearing the tiny pants he hated and a giant, workout sweatshirt that draped off of her when she left. The girls were always zipping around and doing a million things before he had finished the morning paper or his coffee. He chuckles to himself and relishes the long peace the school's experienced, reading to himself. _

_"Mall? No, it's Thursday. Silly! Thursday morning is yoga and smoothies. Mall trips are every other Saturday." She fills in quickly, reaching for a banana. "Gotta cram before I start my intermittent fasting," She pauses when she notices Logan's horrified face. "Oh no, what is-" _

_"You didn't go anywhere with Rogue, this mornin'?" Sweat trails down his face as she sets the food down. _

_"Okay, you're scaring me. I haven't seen her at all, today." She's left in the kitchen as he takes off, clearly contacting a psychic. _

_'Charles. Jean. Get everyone suited ou-' _

_'What's happening,' Jean begins._

_'Logan?'_

_'Mystique's been in the school. Lock everything down.' _

It couldn't happen, again. "The fair's in town." Kitty informed, having thought of the perfect plans. She batted long eyelashes.

_"Ja,_ I don't even think she's been. Something to take her mind of things." Kurt continued, his tail swishing back and forth. He flashed a toothy grin and the Canadian growled. He stroked his chin, it could be a nice, stress-free activity. "Wholesome, fun!"

"Okay. Good idea, _twerps_." He watches with a smirk as they jump up and down. Then, his expression sours. "But, be _careful_. You have to," They settled down when they noticed the look in his eye. Rogue was still fragile. "You have to look out for her. If you think anything's going on, don't _think._ Call. Any one of us." Kitty looked at the blue mutant beside her and nodded. She misses when nothing was this serious. When they didn't have to wonder if Mystique was in their walls, again.

"Yeah, okay."

"Got it." Logan unhooked his arms and jammed them in his pockets, his mind on the stripe-haired mutant.

"Some air... Might be good for her."

Scott stood in the kitchen, his stare lingering outside the window at his teammate. Rogue was sitting on the bench, her stare upwards as the wind blew. The sight was familiar, he had stared at Jean doing the same thing after her meltdown. She also carried a certain sereneness, at least for a while after. What exactly _did_ Charles do when he ventured into minds? Make his students and subjects easier to handle? It was like he lobotomized a little piece of their soul to temper their strength, and he didn't agree.

"She's going to be _okay,_ Scott." Hearing Jean's voice only made his mind turn faster, a million questions forming.

"Do you ever _wonde_r, Jean. What he did to you?" His face is a permanent scowl, lines etched into his stoic face. Her eyes are shut, already. This is a conversation they've had, many times.

"What he _has_ to, Scott. What he always has to do to protect us. I trust him, and I _know_ Rogue does, too." His face doesn't break as she places her hands on shoulder. She can imagine his eyes perfectly when he looks at her, and without reading his mind she knows what he's about to say.

"Should she?"

* * *

Ororo appreciated Charles genuine concern for her, and his willingness to spend whatever for it. But, she didn't know what to make of the artificial woman in front of her. It was like she was everything Jean wasn't. Cold. Frigid. Brilliant, like a diamond. Her face is caked with expertly applied makeup, and her platinum blonde is almost white. And, for some reason, this associate had her chest practically out in Charles' face.

All that hid behind a blank face as Emma smiled and sipped black coffee. "_Hello_, dear." Is all she says, reading the weather goddess for all she's worth.

"I want a second pair of eyes, I worry... If after my extensive work in Rogue's mind, that I am fatigued." Charles laments. "I must be at my best to service you, Ororo. I will not take chances with your beautiful mind." The woman he had identified as Emma laid a gloved hand over her chest.

"What a poet for you, Storm." The X-Man only nods in discomfort. She would trust Charles' intuition, for now. She knows how he practically rebuilt Rogue's psyche from scratch after her mother's trespass. "Can you tell me what the issue is?"

"These... Memories are bubbling to the surface, despite being bound, long ago." She says as she holds her elbows. Emma nods.

"Might it be time to _face_ them?" Ororo blinked. "This usually happens because something..._ Relevant_ is happening. Dragging them up. You don't think they could help be insightful to anything?" She sat, her eyes interlocked with the brown skinned woman. She was pompous. Ororo saw no fear in her eyes and wondered just how strong she was.

"The Shadow King has _no stock_, here. He has no body, no power. I simply don't wish to remember." Their eyes lock and hold for a long moment. She was a typical American, she could never understand her experience. Her culture. None of it.

"Very well." Emma says. "I should be able to do that. Easily."

"You deserve a fresh mind, Ororo. We can trust Emma, she has her own school. In Boston." Charles prayed for a smile as his teammate stared at his friend. He doesn't really get one.

"Does she, now?"

"You wouldn't _believe_ the things I have."

* * *

Kurt's arms were hardly big enough to carry all the colorful, obnoxious prizes he'd won for Kitty and Rogue (and a few cute girls at the fair). Kitty was on her third piece of funnel cake, and Rogue had been holding on to cotton candy for thirty minutes. Kitty frowned when she didn't respond to her question and patiently waited for her to look up. "Huh, oh. Sorry, Kit." She studied her black, oversized jacket and dark green V-Neck underneath. "Been kinda in my head, lately."

Both Kitty and Kurt smiled, painfully. "No vorries." Her sibling is quick to say.

"Right! Maybe, we can go on another ride, soon." Kurt reached out for the cotton candy, but Kitty slapped his hand.

"Ah..." They both swallowed when Rogue spoke, people buzzing around them. "Want to ask, somethin'." She says, her eyes on the dirt below. She remembers the fight at the carnival. Jean's powers and Mesmero. How scary it'd been, to face all her friends. But, she feels there's so much more she doesn't. "But... Ah don't wanna know." She looked up and finally met their solemn stares. "_Do_, Ah?"

Kurt chewed his lip. "Uh, no. Don't think so... Just a veird feeling, there's a vord for that..." He fumbles, searching for something to quickly derail this conversation. His nerves were gonna clue her in even more that something was wrong.

_"You have to look out for her."_

"Déjà vu, duh." Kitty says, herding her friend towards skee-ball. "Sensation of having experienced something before. _Ooh,_ have we played this yet?" When a flash of blonde hit's Rogue's peripheral vision, she drops the cotton candy on the ground. _'What is that?_!' It's just hair, but she instinctively panics. '_Why? What's wrong with me?'_

"Rogue?" Kurt looks down at the spilled candy. "I-I'll get you another..." She wasn't paying attention. She was looking at something else.

"Rogue?" Kitty tries, trying to see what her friend saw. When she sees the blonde again, she jumps back from them. "Hey, what's wrong?" She's shaking, but she can't put into words, why. She was so disconnected from the feelings she had. "You can tell us."

"A-Ah... Don't _know._ Somethin-" She gasps when she sees it again, nearly taking to the air and out of her skin. They both frown when she covers her face in fear. "There's a_ woman,_ Ah know it. Ah think she's _followin_' me..." Kurt and Kitty look at each other, helplessly. It could easily be a delusion as a result of absorbing Carol, or Mystique was in the area. She had orchestrated a whole plan to get her hands on Rogue. They couldn't know which it was.

"A... A _voman?_" Kurt repeats, lamely. He struggled to look clueless, and anyone could ask his drama class. He was not a good actor. Rogue nods, her lip shaking.

"A_ blonde."_ A chill rockets down Kitty's side as Kurt hooked his arm in her's. "Lookin' at me."

"Vhat? Vhere..." His eyes peeling to see anyone who could be his mother. In a flooded place like the county fair, she blended right in. His sister didn't answer, she tore off into the crowd as her boots kicked up dirt. He stretched his neck to see anyone who fit the description. "I don't see anyone."

"Rogue, no! Wait!" Kitty struggled not to phase through people and cause a scene as Rogue's pale skin was swallowed by the crowd.

"No, how? Logan's going to_ kill_ us!" Kurt threw his hands on his hair. "Ve have to find her."

"Come on..."

Rogue's stumbling led her to a curiously less packed section of the fair, filled with busted down or barely tended to attractions. Mostly, boarded up as thunder crashed above head. Lightning flashed, and Rogue's hair was sticking to her neck with moisture. It dipped past her collarbone, now. When did it get so long? It was shorter when they faced off with Mesmero. She remembers that, but why doesn't she remember the blonde? Who clearly knows _her._

_'Those eyes...'_ Blue, angry. _'Why?'_ Rogue spies lone footsteps in mud, leading to an abandoning house of mirrors. Shivering, her clothes clung to her in the rain, she pressed forward in the darkness. It smells of stale dust inside, but somehow it's lit. It's filled with mirrors as promised, so many it makes her head spin. Clear ones, foggy ones, flattering ones, funhouse ones. Something inside told her the woman was there.

_'Then, maybe she'll tell me what Ah don't remember.'_ Nervousness swirled in her gut as she stumbles against a reflective surface, certain she saw more blonde hair. Rogue presses her back against them and stared at her reflection, a hundred times over. Pallid skin, dark makeup she draws in a trance. That's not as dark as it usually, was. Hair slightly wavy because she forgets to straighten it. _Someone doesn't want to straighten it_. Someone doesn't want to cut it, maybe dye it blonde...

_'No, stop it. Ah don't to do that...'_ These were more than intrusive thoughts, something is going on in her mind. _'Is this what Ah don't remember?'_

_"You..._" The hiss makes her scream, and look around. She sees blonde hair just flashing by. "You did this..."

"D-Did _what?_ Ah don't know what!" Her voice echoes as she runs down a mirrored hallway, her head starting to hurt from the vertigo.

"You _know_ what you did."

"No, please!" Rogue cries as she pants, running on top of mirrors. She presses her hands desperately against them. _"Tell_ me!"

"You don't want to know!" The pressure began to rise in Rogue's head as she doubled over, grinding her teeth together. She couldn't take the pain, feeling like her head's going to explode open with confetti._ 'Stop it, stop it... Be quiet, be quiet!' _It was like someone was banging from the inside, trying to get out. Then, all her psyches joined the ruckus. _'Quiet down!' _

"Charles hid the_ truth f_rom you." She looks up from the ground, her hands covering her face.

"W-Who are you? Go away, please!"

"_You know who I am."_ The woman's face flashes in her mind and Rogue begins to shriek, shrilly. She had no earthly idea who she was, but she knew she hated her. With a burning passion that she could feel inside her own chest. Her own head. Why did she feel it so intensely, like a part of her._ It_ was like a pain, none she'd ever felt before._ 'What is goin' on?'_ Screaming, she raised a fist and brought it down, shattering dozens of mirrors with what is only just a fraction of her power.

Kitty grabs Kurt quickly and the shards phase through them as Rogue pants, horrified on the ground._ "Rogue?"_ Kurt's tail is swishing. "Vhat happened?"

"Are you alright?" Kitty bends down in worry as Rogue wipes at her face.

"Ah dunno... S-She was in _here._ She says Ah did it." Kurt frowns over his head as he grabbed onto everyone. Rogue held herself and tears involuntarily streamed down her face. _'So much for a fun fair trip..._' Kitty thinks, stifling a sigh.

"C'mon, that's okay. Let's just get out of here." Rogue nodded feebly and braced herself for the teleport.

* * *

They returned to a different commotion in the mansion. Unbeknownst to them, an argument was rising above. Emma took one look into Ororo's mind and could see something is very, very wrong. So much so she screamed and stood, making a commotion that made Jean and Scott come and investigate. Then, a whole new problem: Jean and Emma don't get along.

Nobody really expected them to, but now was not the time for them to fight. Only Charles really understood the implications of the White Queen's words. If the wretched Shadow King had found a way into their lives, the entire campus was in danger. The thought makes the bald man cover in a sheen of sweat. He was secretly the reason he aimed to form a team, his presence put such a fear in him.

_"Emma,"_ Jean is pinching herself to maintain a kind voice. "If there was _anything_ occupying anyone's mind, eithe_r one_ of us would know." The red head gestured to herself and to Charles. "My mental link extends to Ororo, I-"

"This is not a bond _or_ fuzzy feeling." Emma spits, standing in the hostile environment. She was rigid, like a cat when it is disturbed. And eyeing Ororo very suspiciously. "There's something_ very_ sophisticated and _very_ wrong dragging these memories up. Dare I eve-"

"No, you _don't_ dare." Ororo says hotly. "I would k-"

_"How?_ _You_ had the professor block the memories of that unpleasant event away. What have you learned?" The temperature in the room raises.

"Now,_ wait just a minute._" Jean rises in a drapey, dark green shirt. She wasn't going to let some outsider disrespect Ororo and the professor in front of her.

_"Jean,_" Scott tries, but her following glare scares him.

"Are you taking h-"

"Not at all." He cautions, looking around the room. "I just want to be sure nothing is wrong with Ororo." The X-Men had learned what could happen when she was put under someone's control.

"I am fine, Scott..." She insists, rubbing a temple. She wanted nothing more than to just be alone. Screw the memories. "These are just bad memories..."

"He's back. And, I am telling all of you,_ now_..." Emma points a shaking finger at at the weather mutant. "I can't explain it... I am just sur-"

"It's just a feeling." Jean crosses her arms, her eyebrow unintentionally arched. Scott is trying to muster the courage to think a prayer, but he's too scared she'll hear it. "That_ I_ haven't fel-"

"That doesn't want you to feel." Emma says, hands anchored on her narrow hips.

"Please, I don't need this fussing over me..." The statuesque woman tried to wade near the door, but she involuntarily shocked it with lightning. The room finally went silent.

_"Ororo..."_ Everyone's stare is on the sizzling door.

"I... I... Something's wrong..." They couldn't tell, but she was fighting her own mind fiercely for control. Control of her own actions and body. The white witch was right, something is sitting inside her mind. And, they've decided to make themselves known. "_Charles!"_

"There's something not granting us access to your mind, hold on!" Charles cries, trying not to panic as the winds picked up in the room. Someone could cause a catastrophe using Ororo to do it. It didn't take a genius to wonder how. "Ororo, until I gain access to your mind you_ must_ focus! I know you can!"

He shouted when her eyes began to glow white, Jean raising to the air. "What do we do, professor?" Scott demands to know, feeling claustrophobic crammed in the small room.

"You insist on fighting, Wind Rider... Have it, your way." Everyone hears the voice, but nobody can tell where it comes from.

"See," Emma can't help but hiss, catching a side eye from Jean. She's looking around frantically, desperate to locate the speaker._ 'Damn it... How powerful is this psychic?' _

"No... You won't take me again,_ NO!_" Howling so loud she attracted Logan's attention, all the way across the campus, she shot through Charles' glass window. Students paused outside as she flew, cursing, above them. Jean and Scott were filing out of the room as Emma stood, unsure of whether or not to get involved.

"Rogue, Kurt, and Kitty are back. We'll get Kurt to get you to Cerebro." Jean calls over her shoulder, hovering quickly to get outside. Charles looks like he might cry as several startled inquiries hit his head.

_'Please god, don't let this be what I think it is.'_


	5. King Of Shadows

Rogue, Kurt, and Kitty had hardly stumbled back into the school when they sensed another conflict. They unhooked from each other unsurely, and both the two of them wondered if their silver haired friend was ready to be back in fights. One, good hit to the head could bring the _other_ her back. The one that shrieked as she tore down buildings. When they saw black clouds crawl across the sky and Ororo howl, they figured it wouldn't much matter.

"C'mon, we gotta help her." Rogue says, identifying instinctually with the poor woman's horror. For such a strong, dignified woman she had demons. She gave Rogue a lot of hope for her own future. "It could be... Those shaman people, again." Her voice is quiet, silently questioning the validity and accuracy of her memories. Kitty nods, knowing the memory should've been sharp in her mind.

She hadn't been with the school, long. She didn't even know Kurt was her brother, yet. "Yeah, right. She's been distracted, lately."

"The professor had someone come to check her out, today." The blue mutant remembers, his tail swishing with apprehension. It was all looking like too much of a coincidence, now. Massive raindrops were falling as the trio ran to the backyard, Logan not far behind.

"Rogue. Kitty. Kurt," He smelled their fear and apprehension, even before Ororo's freak out. He skids beside them in the grass, watching as Ororo's shawl floats to the ground. She's floating high above them in a leaf printed gown and screaming with glee as the storm rages around her. They'd seen her like this, twice. When Hungan came for her, and when Apocalypse made her one of his horseman.

Kitty shivers in the rain as she remembers those traumatizing memories. Convinced they'd lost their two most important teachers and teammates, forever. It's not a pleasant train of thought as she laughs, above them._ "All of you will suffer! SASA POTEA, TOLE!"_ She raised her hands and multiple beams of lightning struck the ground.

Logan cursed to himself, pulling Rogue slowly behind him. "Kitty, come with me. And, get ready to phase." She nodded, dark hair clinging to her face with moisture. He turned to Kurt with mad eyes. "Protect her. Keep her back." Kurt's shoulders sag as they took off to talk Ororo down. Rogue sees that they basically acted like she wasn't there.

Jean, Scott, and the strange telepath rush past without sparing a glance, but the solution is obvious to her: she needs to drain the entity or control out of her. This has worked in the past (both on Jean, oddly enough). Kurt looks like he might fall to the ground when she reveals a colorless hand. "Look, her nightmares. Her distantness... Somebody's_ occupyin_' her mind. Ah need to drain it off." Her brother is finally at a loss for what to say.

She doesn't wait for a normal reaction, Rogue turns to go help Storm before somebody got hurt. He grabbed her covered arm, looking like he'd seen a ghost. "Rogue... _No_." She's not sure he said that to her since she tried to push their mother off a cliff. Or did she? Why isn't she really sure that all of her memories have been edited?

_"What_? Kurt, why? Look at her!" Trees were threatening to be pulled from the ground by the mutant's winds.

"B-Because... You're not cleared, to be on missions o-or the field." He does his best Logan impression. Her eyebrow raised. He was such a bad liar.

"What? Ah think this hardly c-"

"Listen, Logan and Hank told me to make sure you stay out of danger. Ororo vould hate if someth-" A crash and a scream steals both their attention as Jean struggled to hold off all of Ororo's powers, at once. Jubilee and Bobby are sliding away, fast as lighting and hail chase them. They'd never seen her so unrestrained. The blonde psychic is attempting to help, but it doesn't appear she's gotten into her head.

She wrenched free with curious ease. "What aren't you people _tellin_' me?" How was she more dangerous than what was currently happening?

"Rogue..." Again, Storm's haunting cackle stole their attention, and Kurt is thankful for it.

"C'mon, 'Ro. I know you're stronger than this. Your powers, you! You're_ sacred!_ Kick 'em to the curb!" Logan screams at her, ducking away from bolts of lightning. He regretted their petty arguing, now. He'd do anything for her to be fine, still annoyed with him. "Ororo-"

_"Silence! Bring the professor to me, I want him to see this. How easily his X-Man's angel fell to me. That, his efforts were foolish. Vain, and only a reflection of his own selfishness. God complex. You are all ants built in his image, just like all of us..."_ Jean got an involuntary chill when she heard the words come out of Ororo's mouth.

"See you've got a bone to pick with professor." Scott observes, his hand dancing on his glasses. He definitely did not want to shoot Ororo, no matter who was controlling her.

"Who are you, we know this isn't Storm." Jean follows, finding no trace of a psychic in her mind. She pressed a hand to her right temple. _'I don't understand... I've never seen anything like this.'_ The weather goddess chuckles, her eyes white.

_"Who, am I? I am chaos and I am here to do it's work._" Her hair splaying around her, they watched as she raised her hands and summoned vortexes of wind. They tore through the lawn, leaving only devastation as they dove out of the way. "KUZIMU NA WEWE!" Even more rain beat down on them, making her hair resemble more grey than bright white.

_'Kurt, please get Rogue inside. Preferably to the Danger Room,'_ Charles half begs, telepathically. All he can think about his her flying away, after graduation. That they should've investigated why Mesmero hadn't possessed her, then. Should've known she'd be their main priority. Her mutation makes her mind susceptible to possession, and it would've been one body controlling all their powers (he knew the devastating effects of that). At that point, he could've gotten clean away with it.

Then, they realized because it was too important a part of the plan.

_ 'She especially needs to be away from the presence, please. I'm about to help Ororo with Cerebro.'_ He didn't feel he was going to be able to, but he'd try.

"Kurt!" She was summoning hail and hurling it at Bobby, shrieking with laughter. It hurt her brain to see Storm acting so horribly.

"The professor has Cerebro_, there's_-" A tree hurdling through the air forced him to grab Rogue and teleport them both to a safer spot. They reappear, panting. _"See_, it's cra-" A flying bench separated the siblings, making Rogue's mind turn quickly as she dodged a potted plant. This was worse than the last time this happened, she'd been able to fight back over his influence (with their help), now she seemed like a different person.

"Kurt, hang on!" She pressed herself close to wet grass as the ground shook. _'Ah've got to do somethin'.' _She forced the nerve to stand, but unless she could fly, there was no way she was getting to her. She was high in the air, raining terror down on all of them. She got lost in her thoughts for a moment, wondering why she felt like there was someone inside of her, too.

"ROGUE," Scott tackles her to the ground before the piece of fence collides with her. He takes a few seconds to survey around them before he pulls her up. He's been tenser the past few days than she's ever remembered him, and usually when he's around her. "You should be inside," He said, watching Ororo trail through the sky as Jean followed. That seemed to be the theme of the day.

She wasn't paying attention to his words. Not the rain getting both of their hair in their faces, pressing dark fabric against her white skin. That she had one glove on, like Michael Jackson. She saw_ her._ The Blonde. Stalking across their lawn like she owned the place. How does she know Rogue? What did she do? Why was she here? She felt like she was seeing her own dopplegänger.

A screams raised in volume in her head, until she doubled over and shouted so loud, even Ororo turned her head. "Ugh, GOD. Why... Why is this happening? Make it STOP,"

_"Stripe?"_ Logan's torn between trying to talk Ororo down and getting to her side, but in the rain, he smells it. Mystique. Trying to drive her child absolutely insane. "SCOTT!" His feet are slapping wet grass before he's finished calling his name, shooting a blast for the imposter. She dove out of the way, swinging back with a force she shouldn't have been capable of. He spits blood in surprise, Jean screaming through the air to his defense.

_"Ah, no."_ A bolt of lightning sends Jean crashing to the ground, hissing.

"I would try to read Mystique's mind, but there's_ nothing i_n it." Emma huffs in frustration, eyeing the mud covering perfect clothing. "She's clearly working for whoever's in your friend."

_"You have no idea."_ The woman squinted white eyes, and the established psychic had no control over her own actions._ 'No, but how...'_ Only a psychic with no corporal form would be capable of such feats. _"Oh, Emma Grace..."_ She says, raising a hand. Everyone besides Mystique hits the lawn, screaming and clawing at their heads. Even Jean, she's never felt such a pressure or pain like this.

_"God,_ Emma!" She gasps, tears in her eyes as she watches Kitty go still. "Quit it!"

_'Shadow King, what is it you want! Tell me!'_ Logan dragged his claws through the turf and struggled to pull himself to Storm despite the pain. 'I won't allow _them to be hurt for our history!' _

_"I have it, Charles Xavier on his knees."_

Rogue looked up, one hand tangled in her wavy hair. She had to get to Storm and touch her, or the mystery telepath was going to scramble their brains. _'And, we don't have long... But,'_ She screamed out in pain when the pain ratcheted in intensity. She would need to be able to _fly._ Withstand the intense pain that would render her unconscious, soon.

_'You can. Remember?'_

Were they occupying her, too?

_'No. You can do this. Stand up.'_

The voice was as clear as her own monologue. Slowly, while Logan watched in horror, Rogue obeyed. She looked around at all of her teammates, writhing in pain. Ororo didn't say anything. _"Rogue_," Logan growls, unable to push off the ground with the pain in his head.

_'Now, touch her. Go on, she'll stop the assault and it'll save your friends.'_ Logan sees her questioning it, the thought process that _was_ actually another mind, trying to influence her for their gain. "Rogue, _wait a minute-_"

Rogue obeyed, doing what she'd done on hundreds of missions, before. Ororo smiles.

_'Rogue, wait-'_

She placed her hands to Emma's flawless skin. Softer than she expected. With a moan, she tumbled into Rogue's arms. She set her gently on the ground as a thirty mile radius erupted into telepathic communications. It was an unintelligible buzz that brought her to her knees. Rogue pressed her hands to her ears, tears crawling down her face as she struggled to control it. How did psychics ever deal? She might not admit it, but she felt for Jean every time she touched her. The initial moment after they touched was enough, for her.

_'I've got you, Rogue. You won't keep reaching out with those abilities! I've suppressed them! You're okay, now.'_

_"She no longer has friends." Rogue answers in a voice that isn't her own. She raised a fist, one that now contains the power of the galaxy. One that can defeat them all, easily. This isn't her, it's just her body. And, whoever is inside wants to do nothing more than hurt them. Everyone. Her hands__ glowed fiercely as she sneered at them, eyes cold and blue. __Rogue hits the ocean with such force, the sea floor is visible. _

_'Suppressed them?'_ She thinks in confusion, feeling all of her abilities at the tips of her fingers. A tear rolled down her face as she has to realize that that was _her._ More dangerous than all their foes, combined. Touching Emma has triggered something, something she doesn't understand. She understood her teammates thoughts and feelings, but when she looks towards Ororo, she shields her face and mind from the darkness swirling around.

_'Now. Go. Fly. You can do it, now.'_ Rogue looks down at her ungloved hand, her friends crawling up from the rain-soaked grass.

"Hey, vait!" Kurt calls, rubbing a bump on his head._ "Rogue!"_

_"What will you do about it, little girl? You don't even know what's going on around you."_ Storm taunts, walking on the air above them.

"Ah know that this _isn't_ Ororo." She says, raising off the ground to Kitty and Jean's shock. Curls were slicked behind her ear as she stood there. She holds her hand outstretched with a frown. She knew something bad was about to happen, and she probably _shouldn't_ trust the voice lurking in the shadows of her mind. But, if the other option was watching Ororo hurt, she didn't have a choice. "And, that's_ all_ that matters."

"Stripe listen to me, _wait a sec_-" She flew to the sky faster than most of them could see. "NO!"

_'Jean, Carol has tricked her into unleashing all of her powers. Including, her own. Next, she will be pushed into breaking a-'_ The psychic flew to the air, knowing where his words were going. There's nothing she can do to stop it. Ororo stood stone faced as Rogue flew for her, hands outstretched. Her palm touches her face, and she can feel the professor's head bow, inside.

_'What have you done...'_

The weather mutant grunts in protest, but soon she and Rogue were trailing towards the ground. Logan and Scott rush to them, both their eyes anchored on the silver banged girl, despite what Ororo had just been through. Rogue seemed fine, not seeing how strange it was she hovered to the sky after touching a_ psychic._ She was peering worriedly into her teammate's face as she moaned, the rain still beating down on them.

Kitty and Kurt eyed Mystique wearily as she came to, realizing she was at the Charles Xavier school. She rubs a hand on her face and startles at the bright, blonde hair instead of red. "Ugh, what? How did..." She hesitantly changed back to her form. "I get here?" She scowled at both Kitty and Kurt for looking at her. "_Well?_ Any ideas?"

"You strolled over here like any other time!" Kitty begins, pointing a finger. The soaked lawn didn't provide Mystique with many clues. If a psychic took a hold of her, it was a very powerful. Not even Charles, could.

"Where's_ Rogue?_ What's going on!" Logan bit back a snarl.

"Like anyone answers to _you!_" He screams, jumping up in front of Rogue. "You got a lot of ne-"

"Whatever you set Ororo up with, _momma?_" She glared hard at the shapeshifter, Scott planting himself at her side as Jean and Bobby peered at Ororo's face. "Well. It ain't work. So just go, get outta here! Ain' you done, enough?" It was no secret the women had a long history of bad blood, but this seemed excessive. Even for her. Then again, Rogue's quick to remember just how ruthless she and Kurt's mother was.

"Storm? What do_ I_ want with..." Suddenly, a few debts she owed came to mind. There was no plot on Storm. This was all an elaborate ruse to get to... Her daughter. She'd read about it since before the girl was born. She pushed past her own son, clamoring to get to Rogue. "Did you _touch_ her? Daughter, answer me!" Logan and Scott intercepted her, eyeing her weirdly.

"No way." Scott says, sneering in her face. "You've caused enough," Rogue's terrified shrieking prompted them both to let her go.

"Oh god. This was never about _her!_" Mystique started screaming, watching as her child's eyes widened in fear. The others couldn't see what she was seeing on the astral plane. But, Carol Danvers was there. Clear as day to Rogue. And, she was angry. Livid. Looking for revenge. "That... That cess pool, _Farouk! He did all this to get to her!"_ All the blood drained out of Logan's face as he watched Rogue back away, in fear. He'd annoyed a few slivers of truth out of Charles, and one was in his mind.

_"Amahl Farouk... Known to me first as, The Shadow King." Charles admitted, reluctantly. "His mutant ability sacrifices his body in exchange for psychic powers so expansive, he can completely possess others." _Storm believed in her culture more than anyone he knew, he knew how that must've affected her and why she didn't want to remember it.

"Rogue," Scott begins, turning painfully slow. "Just tell us what's happening. How to help."

"We're here darlin', they're tryin' to get to you! Don't let 'em!" Despite their calm words, she was panting like a bull. Ms. Marvel was flying towards her, her face bared in an terrifying snarl.

_"Murdering mutant... Why! Why did you murder me? What will you do, what are all the planets I was protecting going to do?!"_ Kitty shouts when Rogue is knocked back by a seemingly invisible force. She slams into a tree, looking up as her nose bleeds. Her brain scrambled, soon the memories leaked into her mind. _'Professor... What did you do!' _She ducked, the Avenger swinging wildly for her with glowing fists.

Jean rose with a frown as Rogue took to the air, her own hands glowing in response to the stress. "PLEASE, AH'M _SORRY!"_ She swung at something only she could see as the X-Men watched.

_'Fight it, Rogue. Or she will usurp your body and take it for her own.'_

_'Who are you? Why are you all in my mind!'_

"Rogue, it's okay! The professor's gonna help you," Logan pleaded from the ground through cupped hands. He's never seen such terror on her face, before. Can't imagine what she's being forced to see. Anything would've been better than waiting for this to happen, and hiding the truth was only going to make this moment worse. The red head bowed her head beside him and tried to bring her teammate calm.

"I can't do anything for her mind." She looked back at Scott examining Ororo and Emma, both still unconscious. "Who is this?"

_'Who is she? God, what does she want with me?!'_ Another punch sent her sprawling back. _'She wants to kill me!' _

_"This never should've happened._" The Avenger seethed, looking into Rogue's eyes while her teammates looked on. She stood there in a black bodysuit and a mask, but she didn't look like that before. Did she?

_'Show her. Fight back!'_ Grey eyes began to glow red, every single power she's absorbed rising through her blood stream. She was tired of being scared. Stalked. Hunted. Of not knowing. The fear was worse than everything. "Daughter!" Mystique's voice made rage her clearest emotion. Logan starts forward, but it's too late. She erupts into a bright flare of light from all her power.

The X-Men are flung back, not unlike when they face Apocalypse all that time ago. Rogue is sitting, untouched in the resulting crater. Panting. Her eyes glossy. Weak and ripe for possession. Mystique pushed herself up with great labor. "Over my dea-"

_"Now, you will know better than to make promises you can't keep."_ Rogue says, examining her bare hand. _"You have continually tricked her, plotted against her. And, you all..._" Rogue shook silvery bangs as Kurt stepped forward, despite Kitty's pleas._ "You hid the truth from her. Made sure there was no chance she could protect herself. She was the my perfect candidate..."_ They watched as she rose on a pillar of ice, forming beneath her. "_I thought I wanted a host, but I want her to be my queen."_

"You gotta possess_ children_ to get one? Come out of there." Logan demands, his hands shaking with adrenaline. "Let's see what you're rea-"

"Mr. Logan!" Kitty shouts as his body drags through the ground, upturning turf.

_"To think that I owe any of you answers. Raven,"_ Rogue's smile drives her to drop her head._ "You will rue the day you ever tried to use the Shadow King, for anything."_ Scott ran forward with an outstretched hand, but she disappeared in a cloud of navy smoke.

"Vait, no!' Kurt screams, looking around the trashed lawn in shock. "Vhat just_ happened?_" Logan pulled himself from the crater he was in and stalked towards the institute, shooting a word a second to Charles' head. Scott had said this would happen. If Rogue had no idea what Mystique had done, it was bound to happen. Again. He stopped only to gather Ororo into his arms, who was drifting in and out of consciousness.

"L-_Logan..."_

"Hush..." He says, looking at all the grass that'd need replacing. Teammates staring at the damage, wondering what they would do now. "Just rest. I'll get you to Hank."

"I'm_ sorry_..." He glared at the shapeshifter, who was about to get into an argument with Scott. "I could've remembered... Remember it is not ever what's obvious that he is after..." He frowns when she passes out, again.

"This ain't on you."


	6. A Host

Mystique scowled when Logan shoved her forward in front of Charles in his office. He tosses two bracelet looking devices onto a coffee table_. "These_ things amplified the strength of her punches." He explained with a growl. Jean's arms were folded beside Scott, who had an arm resting on his ribs. She had plenty to say about her presence. "So Rogue would believe you really _were_ Carol." When the bald telepath looked at her, she huffed in irritation.

"What part of that _body-_less mutant who possesses people do you not understand?" Emma was sitting with a bag of peas on her aching head, growing tired of hearing people argue.

"She's right," The blonde says, her eyes shut. She didn't want to think about what her clothes look like. "The skank wasn't in on it. Farouk possessed _me_ like he was strolling through the park." Jean was desperately trying to catch the blue woman's eyes. "Possessing her was a confetti."

"You mean, _this time_." She says, her finger tapping on her arm. It all made so much sense, now. They couldn't discover the method of mind control she used to make Rogue attack Carol Danvers. "Ms. Marvel. The incident. It was the_ Shadow King_ in Rogue's mind, wasn't it?" Logan and Charles' mouths dropped when they both made the connection. No wonder, he was busy laying the trail he wanted them to see. "You double crossed him, and he's come to collect because _you_ didn't make good on your promises." Kurt's head bowed.

"Get out of my mind, witch." Mystique began with a raised hand.

"Don't have to read it." Scott eased from her side, a bruise covering his chest.

"What did you promise him?" He demands, eyes certain to be smoldering behind ruby quartz glasses.

"What do you _think_? What everyone wants. I have my motivations for what I wanted to do, and I needed him to do it. Because of you," Logan throws his hands in the air.

"Oh, _here we go_. Mother of the year..."

"You nearly killed her, Mystique. Had her sanctioned and imprisoned by the secret government!" Charles points out, not about to take altering Rogue's memories being thrown in his face. "Who are you to make these decisions? The girl wants nothing more to-"

"Left to _your_ devices, she would be dead already." The blue woman accuses, venom in her stare. Scott moves toward her but Kurt and Bobby block his way. The blonde shakes his head, mouth pushed in a line.

"Don't." Kurt says, his tail whipping back and forth. "She's just upset." Scott opened his mouth to talk about being upset, but a look from Jean quieted him. Besides, it's not Kurt's fault he has the complete opposite for a mother.

"We are not in a place where we can throw blame." Kitty frowned when Charles dropped his face to his hands. "Nobody truly understands the kinds of danger Rogue and the potential world is... Amahl Farouk is right, he _is_ the reason I formed the X-Men." Mystique folded her arms as if she were bored, but Jean and Scott's mouths drop open. They don't remember any of this.

"Professor?"

"What do you mean?" Jean asks with a sigh.

"He sensed my powers and sought me out." The telepath spoke with Kitty at his side, rueing the day he came to him and put fear inside of him. "He proposed we do the exact opposite. Use our mutations to become the most powerful beings on earth. He had no morals, no qualms with using his abilities to control and strong arm others to his will. It was... Atrocious. Horrifying. This world needs protection from things it cannot fully understand."

"And..._ He's_ got Rogue." A set of Logan's claws shot out. Kitty looked at the carpet.

"What are we going to do, professor?" She asked, searching his face for an answer. He looked at the young faces, staring at him, expectantly.

Hank spoke before he could answer. "Ororo is awake." His face is pulled tight. _"Gambit_ has returned, he was expecting Anna back later. After the fair..." Jean shut her eyes as Logan leaned against the wall.

"I'll talk to him," He snarls, looking like the last person who needed to. Scott moved from Jean's side, weary to leave Mystique unattended.

_'I'll watch her, go on. He needs it.'_

"Logan, go see Storm. I'll... Get Gambit back up to speed." They didn't have to be a psychic to imagine how he was about to take this news. He traveled frequently during whatever it was the two shared. But, after seeing the attack on the news and hearing how severe the damage had been, he stuck around faithfully. The leader sets his face and tries to look in control.

Remy feels the chilly atmosphere upon his arrival. The lawn looks like it got bombed, and he hopes it wasn't mutant protestors. The longer it takes to spy Rogue, the more worried he gets. Logan b-lines for the infirmary without so much as a look. The look on Scott's face said the rest. He was about to ask where Rogue was, a bouquet of magnolias in his hand. One look at Scott's troubled face would say something bad, happened.

Ororo sighs when Logan produces himself at her doorway. "_God,_ 'Ro."

"Logan-" In seconds, they're in each other's arms. When they pull apart, he stares intently into her eyes. _Her_ eyes, not possessed ones. Dead ones, cursing everything she believed in. It shook him to see one of his most beautiful, closest friends that way. She looked exhausted, but they had her. She can tell from his body language and the pained look in his eye that something's wrong. "I'm so sorry, is everything alright?"

"Don't worry about that, for now." He insists, inspecting her. "You feelin' okay?"

"I'm okay, just a headache. It's_ over_, now..." She rubbed her temple, but when Logan sat on the bed she saw that wasn't the case. "Who is it? Who did he take?" She demands, sitting up in a panic. He can't bring himself to say it, but her eyes anchor in the lobby of the infirmary. Remy's already dropped the bouquet and is struggling with Scott to get to the hangar. _"Gods,_ no. I'm sorry, I invited this evil into our lives-"

"No, darlin'." He bent down to her eye level. "Our friendly neighborhood _Mystique_ did that." He wiped delicately at a tear in her eyes. "The Shadow King just used you as a misdirect to swoop in during this vulnerable period." Her grip on the sheets, tightened.

"We need to get her. You have_ no idea..._"

"I know..." She sees veins pop on his arms as he struggles to imagine what she's going through.

"Remy go some'where couple hours and he _take her,"_ He feels his blood pressure, rising. He didn't want to think that the school's inadequacy at protecting her caused the whole Ms. Marvel debacle. That, if she stayed with_ him_ in New Orleans, none of this ever would've happened. And now, they let a psychotic psychic stalk and possess her (after messing with Ororo). "She's_ fragile. _She neve-" His voice rises and Scott stands, helpless.

"Gambit, I know-"

"Do ya? Cause pretty sho' _Red_ sittin' upstairs, sippin' hot cho-" When Scott pushed the black eyed mutant against the wall, Logan leaned out. He would not have the woman inside do anything, but rest.

_"Listen,"_ Scott says, eyes managing to hold the cajun's behind his glasses. "That's my friend. Kurt's sister. My number two. You came when she needed you, so I was gonna ask if you wanted to run point on this. Pretty sure I know the answer." Scott leaned up and held out a hand, one that Remy hesitantly accepted. "The good news, the professor says the Shadow King is cocky. I don't think he's gonna be able to mask all her powers for long. We're gonna find her." The southern mutant clutches a fist tight and stiffly nods.

When Logan returned inside the room, he saw Ororo trying to ease herself up. "Wait a minute,"

"You're going to need the help." The thought of Rogue in control of all her powers and him behind it already had her head spinning.

"The only thing _I_ need is for you you to rest. Farouk's been messin' with ya for who knows how long." She sighed as she ushered him back. "I'll get ya some water." The silver haired woman shook her head.

"No, I'll rest." Her eyes hardened, like ice. "Get her back. Stop him." Logan nodded.

"You know we will."

* * *

Charles knows better than to give the shapeshifter too much trust. But, he's accepting all help at this point. "Don't see _why_ I did it? If something like this had happened to he_r before_ she absorbed the Avenger, she would be dead. She wouldn't be able to handle what the Shadow King is putting her through." She looks uncomfortable with her words. Charles listened, his head leaning on his hands.

After her melt down and everything with Apocalypse, Charles is inclined to believe her. The one thing he's grateful for is her general sturdiness. "Your actions made her responsible for removing someone's life." He admonishes, remember the Avenger's faces when he told them there was nothing he could do.

"I did what I had to. What you would_ not_, to protect her." Her look became severe. "Besides. Ms. Danvers wasn't all that nice of a person. She was adamant about not being considered a mutant, and was in_ favor_ of the mutant registration la-"

"All no reason to have Rogue murder her." Jean chimes in, her hands on her hips. "What were you thinking? You just drove her to the Shadow King, anyway. Just like you got involved with Apocalypse." Her temper still flares when she remembers how it went down. So much trouble from Mystique, alone. Scott's kidnapping and stranding didn't need to be mentioned.

"I was thinking,_ little girl._" The blue woman starts, making Charles rub a temple as she pointed a finger. "That while _you all_ insist on being trampled by the rest of the world for peace, she could have permanent genes that might help her survive." Jean didn't expect much else from her, but she's still in shock. She really wasn't sorry for what she did or what she put Rogue through.

"I think it's pointless to have her here." The red head is running out of patience, furiously touching her temples. "She's toxic. Like... The mental aroma of a skunk-"

Mystique pointed a slender finger. "Say_ one more_ word."

"Guys, please," Kurt held his hands up, unable to watch the conversation continue. "Vhether or not ve agree, ve _all_ want to find Rogue. Ve have to at least try to vork together. For _her."_ Jean shuts her eyes and prays for patience. Mystique sniffed haughtily. Rogue was worth the headache, but god X-Men automatically gave her one. Even her eccentrically sweet son.

"Our only hope is Charles puts that bucket on his head and nukes Farouk. And, preferably before Rogue becomes too powerful." She turned expectantly to Charles.

"I don't know if even my enhanced telepathic powers can stand up to his. I don't want think of the way he's enhanced himself." Jean frowned. She saw how easily he possessed some of the most resilient teammates she had. And, his lack of a corporal form made him almost virtually impossible to trace. He might've been stronger than Charles as a horseman. Cerebro was no match for that. "We must think of something else."

"A call to your friend Erik might be in order. That's all I can think of." Jean rubbed her arm.

"She might be right. Logan's not gonna like this." The bald telepath sighs.

"No, he won't. But, we may have little choice in the matter."

* * *

"You are certain this will be the most proper host?" It was strange hearing the legendary psychic's voice come out of one of Charles' welps. He was up to the something, and anything Mr. Sinister could do to tantalize the X-Men (and their leader, Scott Summers) would be done. The Shadow King's need would be a great time to test some of his research.

"Of all the studies I've done..." Sinister says, stroking a colorless face. Washed out, grey eyes seemed to be studying his reflective, blue armor and red eyes. "Scott Summers has the most genetically_ perfect_ DNA. Due to a head injury... His optic blasts are uncontrollable..." Mr. Sinister's mouth widened to reveal many sharp teeth. "But, _my_ clone would not have such a flaw. Unlimited potential, and imagine how Professor Xavier would react to this. He'd probably just_ drop dead_."

A rueful smile spreads across Rogue's face as she kneads her fingers, together. "A mutant body without a soul... You are on to something, Essex. Produce Summers. Then, find this Queen something for her to wear." The thought of a sentient, peak physique Scott Summers with Farouk guiding it made him giddy. Almost turned on by how confused and disgusted Scott would be to discover him this way. How he could never understand just how long he's been in his life.

_'Now he will see how I love him.'_ The towering telepath gestured beside him where giant test tubes lay. "He's ready. Your body without a soul."

"Then we will visit. Tonight."

* * *

Emma rubbed a temple, finding it hard to get a word in edgewise in the mutant school. Every time she tried to talk, they erupted into discussion amongst themselves. "What do you mean we have to _kill_ the host to drive him away?" Scott repeated angrily. The brainstorming session wasn't going well. Jean was pallid, clearly suffering a migraine under the atmosphere. Logan was tense, and nobody could hear over the other.

"There's got to be some vay to drive him out, right?" Kitty put a hand on Kurt's shoulder.

"M-Maybe Ororo knows some people who can help."

"Will you all pipe down?" The blonde says with mostly a sigh.

"No harm will come to Rogue. I believe with Jean and our's strength, Magneto, and Wanda..." He winces when he sees their faces. Mouths drop, eyes close, people turn away. "We can have a might Amahl cannot overcome." Charles explained, forcing his voice to be steady and confident. He doesn't want them to see how uneasy this particular foe has him, how scared he was all those years ago.

A bottle of soda explodes out of Remy's hands, showing how tense and upset he really was. All the words they'd said, they were no closer to finding Rogue. The more he speculated about it, the sicker he felt. Both Kitty and Jean approach him to help clean up the mess, but he turns quickly and stomps away. Scott moves to follow him but Logan blocks him with an arm.

"Let him go, shades." He only crossed his arms. They were all wound tight. "He's goin' through it," He had half a mind to destroy stuff, himself.

"Having an attitude isn't gonna help."

"No, and neither does pickin' a fight. Let him settle down. I have a feeling this is gonna bring trouble to our door, anyhow." Scott's brow furrowed, wondering if they were ready to face something like this. The last time half the team had been possessed, it hadn't gone so great in terms of stopping the mission. Used for bad, their powers were unstoppable. He's stroking his chin at the memory.

"I'm gonna check the War Room camera... Make sure everything looks normal." Logan shot his claws out as a response.

"You'll see me on 'em, lookin' for a problem. Everyone else to stay inside until further notice." His voice left no room for arguing. When Remy was sure nobody was looking, he pulled a cigar out and lit it with shaky hands. Every time he turned around, somebody was preying on Rogue. He'd been trying to convince her to think of her life outside the school, and it was things like this that was why.

After flicking his lighter for a minute he tossed the cigar and the lighter into the yard, fists clenched in frustration. No booze or drug would make him feel better, right now. He thought it was his pining imagine that conjured her there, floating in a dark green trench coat and clothes the southern mutant had never seen, before. Emerald green pants with tears in them, and see through green sweater. A scarf billowed at her neck as he just looked at her.

_"Chére_..." He doesn't move as she hovers close to him, using his charm against him to capture his attention. "Rogue," He utters as she pushes her lips towards his. She tucks auburn hair behind her ear and leaves silver bangs framing her face as their faces meet. Remy expects to meet oblivion, but his heart beats faster as nothing happens._ 'W-What...'_ He knew Mystique hadn't been left unattended.

Rogue pulled away from him with a smile. "Isn't this all you've wanted?" She drawled, sending a cheer down his spine. She no longer seemed occupied by this Shadow King, but controlled by him. He doesn't know what to think when she looks at him with a sinister glare. "Like this, Ah don't have the same limitations. My king has freed me! _Say it!_"

She watches as he reaches for his bo staff, extending in front of their eyes. "Non, she would never trade to touch. You bein' controlled, Rogue. Used! F- _Auuuuuuughh_," The cajun mutant sank to his knees as Rogue stared at him, her hand outstretched.

"Silence, scoundrel. You wanted to control me when you didn't tell me the truth." When he stopped writhing on the ground she looked towards the inside of the school. '_Excellent work, my queen. Continue.'_


	7. Queen

_"Please,_ Scott. He's really upset..." Jean tries, her brow actually sore from wrinkling. She can't read the cajun man's mind and she knows better than trying, but she can tell he's about to take off himself and do something crazy. Her boyfriend and Logan had almost gotten into it, and if tensions got any higher she'd be shattering lightbulbs.

"I know, Jean. He said he wanted to head things, I just want to make sure he's okay or hasn't run off..." She nods, seeming to be placated by his responsible answer. Nobody had time to play around, at the moment. Scott wasn't full of patience, either. He was worried and downright angry that the professor had let it come to this. He did not trust the Avengers' input on mutant matters and he knew this would happen.

"Hey, Gambit. I want you to know t-" He drops quickly when he spied him on the ground. He presses fingers to the man's neck and is relieved to find a pulse, but not any less confused._ 'Damn it. Out... Like, Rogue's-'_

"Scott." He nearly jumps out of his skin when he sees what incapacitated his teammate. Her skin looks bioluminescent, her lipstick is darker than he remembers, even with his sight.

_"Rogue?_ Oh my god." Despite his instincts screaming "trap", he moved forward. He's met with an invisible wall as she moved around him. He remembers the dangers of her having all her powers, unleashed. This wasn't going to end well. "Rogue... You don't want to do this."

"You have no idea what Ah want to do." She answers, her voice sending chills down his spine. Her scarf wraps around his neck as she leaned her pale face close to his. "Or..._ Don't you?_" Her gaze is almost predatory as he burned in it. In a flash her outfit changed, into a bodysuit resembling Wanda's distant one. Moss green, also covered in rips. The scarf remained around her neck as her gloves disappeared.

"This isn't you, Rogue. Fight it." He winces when she leans close, so close their lips almost meet. He protests, but they kiss all the same. Scott stops struggling when she doesn't knock him unconscious. Was this Rogue? What was going on? "Wait..." His mind is turning, wondering if Mystique is this depraved. She's not acting like herself, but is was his teammate._ 'So, what's going on?'_

"Ah can see into your_ mind,_ Scott. Ah see the feelin's you don't face, yourself." His face turns beet red but he says nothing else. Talking while she's inhabited by a powerful psychic sounded like hanging, himself. He sensed his girlfriend's presence in the doorway.

"Jean.._. She, I-" _Rogue's scarf tickles his face as the two women made eye contact.

_"I know._" She says, noticeably short. They felt the temperature rise in the room. "The Shadow King is trying to tear us apart._ Typical._ All it's doing is ticking me off." She throws a hand up that separated Scott and her possessed teammate. She continues to exert her psychic pressure, but Rogue doesn't move. Black lips only turned upwards. _'How strong is the Shadow King?'_

Grinding her teeth, Jean pushes even harder. "Do it. Keep going, Ah want to see this for_ myself._" Jean knew exactly what she meant. The snarling, the flames. Her impossible psychic feats. She knew this foes of the professor's would be coming to inquire about the Phoenix force.

"Don't take the bait." Scott demands, one of his hands on the wall.

"I have control, Scott." The red head affirms, eyes locked with Rogue's. "Your petty tricks won't work. Give us our friend, back." Thunder booms so loudly, the mansion shakes. Neither woman moved.

"Ah'll _show_ you control." Gambit stirred on the ground as winds slammed lawn furniture in the grass. Trees rustled as bushes and other landscaping began to get uprooted in the mounting chaos. The ground began to split with earthquakes as the surrounding metal began to groan. Her eyes glowed white as Jean's forehead began to glow pink.

"Don't make me keep up, Rogue." A random optic blast knocks her into the wall. Remy looks up in confusion as Scott runs to her side. She doesn't contemplate her lover shooting her down, but neither of them can believe their eyes when they look up. Standing beside Rogue,_ was_ Scott. Except Scott was kneeling beside Jean.

She's covering her mouth in horror as Remy just stares, wondering how much of this was to do with Mr. Sinister. The clone work is impeccable, he knows what must've happened. If the Shadow King and Nathaniel Essex were working together, they were in more trouble than they ever imagined. The telepath whimpered when Rogue laid her head on this imposter's chest, just in time for Logan to see in the doorway.

_"Rogue?" _His fingers are twitching, struggling for a way to confirm that there are two Scott's. The possessed girl frowned for the first time since her appearance. Something about the former S.H.I.E.L.D agent's presence was bothering her.

_'Logan... You are making her fight against the Shadow King's control!' _

"Wait until you see this." Scott is practically frothing when Amahl pulled his glasses off, revealing brown eyes. Ones that don't involuntarily activate his power. He stood in an identical version of Scott's uniform, but detailed red and with a floor length cape. "Ask, and you shall receive. If Rogue was to be my queen, I still needed a host. Guess who Sinister recommended?" Remy exclaimed in French as his suspicions are confirmed. "You should be flattered."

Logan's claws flew out. _"I'll take care of this."_ Is all he says, Jean covering her eyes. Scott doesn't seem to harbor any hard feelings when the clone wraps an arm around Rogue's waist.

"W-Why aren't her powers, working?" Scott finds the nerve to say, bullets of sweat forming on his forehead. Logan looks between them as Remy seems to confirm the question.

"Funny. You call my occupation_ control,_ but my queen seems freer than I've ever seen her. Able to live without the fear of gloves. Being covered. Hidden, like she was her whole life." Jean was shaking her head in disgust. Rogue was grinning from beside him.

"She's not your anything, you're controlling her!" Her hand was anchored over a singe mark on her shirt.

"Ah get that your _jealous_, Jean. You wish you could trade in the model that doesn't blow holes in the wall?" The thief grabbed half a deck of cards in his hands.

"He rotten_, chére._ Everythin' that come from Sinister, even your contro-" Before he'd finished talking he'd raised into the air.

"Rogue, no!" Logan screamed.

"So, does that mean_ you?_ Amahl told me. Everythin', where ya been off to when you're not here." He can't tell if the rage in her grey eyes was induced, Carol, or her true feelings. It was hard to tell with all her powers running rampant and a certified psychopath controlling her. Remy couldn't even listen to the list of things that Charles knew he was responsible for. For a moment, eyes turned to Remy as Kitty and Kurt appeared to see that all the noise wasn't Scott and Gambit, fighting.

"He's trying to make us do his work,_ for him_. We need to focus on Rogue." Jean asserted, determined not to be out psychic'd by the Shadow King.

"W-What do you know... About this, _Mr. Sinister._" Logan snarls when Rogue smiles, again.

"Don't take the damn bait, Scott!" Kitty is shaking as Kurt looks between the two Scotts. But, his mother was with Charles. He'd seen that with his own eyes.

_"Petite,_" Remy breathes as he hovers in the air. "Don't do d-" He's hurled through glass veranda doors before he can finish.

"Gambit!" Kitty screams in surprise. Scott's looking for an opening to blast his imposter with an optic beam, Jean counseling with him telepathically.

"As charming as this is, this isn't about you all. Yet." The look on Amahl's face sent a chill down the telepath's spine. It was so like Scott but so no, it made her sick. She felt even worse when she wondered how much of their DNA Sinister had and was capable of manipulating. Mystique had clearly gotten in and out of the mansion before, how many other shapeshifters had? "Sources tell me, Mystique is here."

"Is that what this is, payback for time wasted by _her_? Because, get used to it. She never keeps her end of the bargain." Scott huffs, crossing his arms. Kurt looks at his two fingers and ponders his mother.

"She promised after helping her acquire the strongest Avenger's powers, she would be the most powerful mutant on earth. But, Mystique could not control her. This only makes me want her more." Jean can barely hold Logan back from flinging himself at the clone and getting himself seriously injured. "They were both to work for me and my ascendancy, but Rogue came back here. And, Mystique planned on cutting afterwards." Amahl continued, relishing in the shocked and terrified faces he was seeing.

Rogue hovered into the air to Jean's protests. "She's about to find out what happens when you make deals with the King Of Shadows." With a clap of her hands, Rogue clears a path for both her and Amahl to move. Fast.

_'Professor!'_ Jean practically yells, telepathically. '_Rogue and Farouk are here, he has a body. It's a clone of Scott.'_

_'I'll get to Cerebr-'_

_'They're after Mystique, I... I think they're going to kill her. Rogue's completely under his control, I can't find her psyche.'_

_'Get Kurt to teleport bodies here to defend her, we do not allow murder on our grounds! Not even her!'_

_'Right.'_ She knew she had her work cut out for her getting Scott and Logan to rush to Mystique's aid, but maybe Kurt's terror would motivate them. "Kurt, you need to get us to the professor and your mom. That's where-" They were pushed into a clump and teleported two floors up in a seconds, managing to beat the terrifying pair up the stairs.

Kitty held her hands out in a mock karate stance, trying to hide the fact that she's shaking. She still remembers the last few times they fought their teammate. They didn't exactly win. Mystique is looking at them all in disgust, trying to make her case to Xavier about how much of what she's done isn't her being a terrible person, but her trying to spare a helpless child (and, while Charles does believe that was a lot of her motivation, he still believes her to be a selfish and terrible person*).

"What is..." The blue woman manages to pale as Ororo somehow fights her way up there, infirmary IVs hanging from her. Rogue was hovering, her wavy hair waving around her as she stood beside the Shadow King. "No. They're here..."

"Raven. Didn't I tell you how you would pay for crossing me?_ With your soul_." Both he and Rogue share a look that makes Charles turn green. He knew of the thoughts and ways the Shadow King had to hurt people. He cannot allow his own mind to go there.

"Amahl, you will stop this. We will go to the Astral Plane, where you are strongest. We will handle it there, but what you will not hurt her, any longer!" Ororo begins to crackle with electricity as the two's lips met. Logan and Scott can barely hold Remy back, keep him from getting cut down by any one of Rogue's abilities.

"That's what they_ want you to do_, cajun." Logan tries to remind him, his eyes locked with her chilling grey ones. "Don't let it..." He wanted to behead this Sinister clone, even if it looked just like Scott.

"Don't you _understand?"_ Fake Scott laughs, heartily. "I'm in a body, _I'm_ calling the shots. You all think you love her, and you're wrong. Love is the willingness to suffer for another. My queen," Kitty's face wrinkled when they grab hands. "Are you willing to do that?" She nods, her eyes shut. Mystique pushes past the growing crowd of X-Men in a rage.

"You think you'll control, take my daughter, and_ court her_ without any repercussions?!" She begins, Piotr awkwardly trying to hold her back. "I swear to go-"

"Ah am." With a giddy grin, Amahl snaps. Both Logan and Remy stop struggling when they see a lucidness wash over her.

"I'm gonna tear your_ soul_ out, Raven."

_"P-Professor..."_ Rogue marvels at her weird clothing before she sinks to the ground, moaning. She's trying to fight like she's spent most of her time learning, but the current of her mind is too much. Something's undone all the damming the professor worked hard to carefully build. The pressure in her head was filling up like a water balloon. Tears leak down her face as everyone slowly begins to understand.

"Now, if I _don't_ control her, she will be in immeasurable pain. Confusion. And she will be a danger to you, and countless others." A smile replaced his visage that Scott wasn't even capable of having. It was pure evil. Furniture began to rattle slowly as paperclips and papers began to fly off of Charles' desk.

"Help me, _please! She's tearin' my head, apart_!" Both of Charles' hands are on his head as he tries to ignore his rival's taunts. He has to keep Carol from breaking free and usurping Rogue's mind. Or, they were back in the fight of their lives._ 'Not only with her, but... The military. The government._' He sees her struggle to hold on to her sanity, but it's a losing battle. "Please... _Ah can't..."_

"I'm here, Rogue. We'll fight her. _Jean!"_ She shuts her eyes and tries to join in the battle, but with Rogue facing the Shadow King and Carol, it might prove too hard.

"You can do it, Rogue! Ve're here for you! Don't let them push you around!" Her brother encouraged, galloping to her side. He's smacked back with alarming force through Kitty and into Piortr's arms. Screaming, it becomes clear that Rogue is no longer_ Rogue_. Mystique is watching with her face covered, knowing the Shadow King is trying to break her just to get to her.

"YOU NEVER LOVED ME! ONLY MY BROTHER, CHARLES!_ WHY!"_ She slams her fists with such force, part of the floor collapses beneath her. Ororo raises into the air reluctantly, but Charles stops her.

"Go, get the children to the basement. Please. She's cycling through Cain's memories. Kitty, go with her." The two disappear through the wall after some hesitation. Rogue's lifted an entire armoire, her scarf billowing around her as she shrieked. She tosses it at Mystique and Charles, but Jean catches it and sets it down.

"GET OUTTA MY HEAD!" Logan pushes Kurt out of the way as she leaps for them.

"God, she's practically feral after after what he's done to her!" Logan screams, grabbing her hands and getting shoved through the wall, quickly.

"We have to get him out, she'll destroy everything!" Both Scott and the blue woman dove out of the way of his clone's optic blast.

"Elf, get Chuck somewhere safer. Your mother, too-"

"NO. I'm not leaving her!" Mystique spit angrily, ducking down to avoid being slammed with a bookcase. "Anna, please. I am here for you, you're my daughter..." She began pawing at her face as even worse memories crescendoed on her mind. The scent of burnt hair. Burnt flesh. Sickness and death. Ash piling high, being herded like cattle.

"We must all clear out!" Charles screamed as Amahl looked on in pleasure. "Carol is deliberately bringing out the worst memories she can!" He explained, Kurt hanging off of his shoulder.

"Not leavin'," Remy declared, his eyes locked with the sinister mutant beside Rogue.

"You will only get hurt." Charles begged, feeling the metal shift around him. The frames of the window stripped and nearly collided with Jean's head before Logan sliced them.

"We _need_ to clear the area." He added, arms raised in defense.

"Yes, Charles_. Run._" Amahl continues as Rogue cowered in pain. "Run away, hide behind your little team. As if it even matters. Leave her behind." Books, pages, and chairs were rotating around Rogue as she sobbed in confusion. She could barely remember who she was, much less where she was and why this was happening.

_"H-Help me..."_

"Go," Logan snarled as Remy thrashed against Scott. "I'll stay. _I'll_ heal." He was the only one who could stand her last meltdown, and this was looking far worse.

"I won't leave her like this-"

"And,_ I_ won't let you play right into his hand. Elf," The blue mutant knew this look, and it was one Logan dared any of them to defy. "Now."

"B-" Scott tries before they all disappear in a cloud of smoke.

"Rogue. We've been here before. I'm here, no matter what y-" With a piercing shriek she threw her hand forward and nearly pushed him out a shattered window. He catches the ledge and pulls himself back in, his eyes on Amahl's smug face. Wearing Scott like a mask just to taunt them, it would feel good to drag his claws through him.

_"You tried to lock me away, in a cage!"_ He's not sure what's worse. The anger in her eyes or that he can't blame Carol for hating them. "I won't give her back! Ever!"

"Carol, please! I know you're angry-"

_"You have no idea!"_ Logan groans when he's lifted into the air, but it is the Shadow King who halts her. She's covered in a sheen of sweat, but soon she's lucid.

"Thank you, my queen." She stands and wipes at her face with the back of her arm. "Now, come. The fun doesn't end here. We've got some Avengers to make pay for inconveniencing me." He knows it's pointless, but Logan leaps for them, anyways.

"ROGUE," This time, he's flung out of the window and onto the lawn.

"Let's go."


End file.
